The invention relates to a method and apparatus for rinsing textile material in a wet treatment tank which has at least one zone in which rinsing fluid is applied to the textile material and at least one other zone which is free of rinsing fluid and in which the textile material rests before it is again exposed to the action of the rinsing fluid.
In a known method of rinsing textile material (British Pat. No. 237,422) the textile material traverses the tank in the form of a continuous hank, and the fluid outlet (in the lower region of the tank) is open. In this method, rinsing fluid (fresh water) is sprayed onto the strand of textile material rising upwards from the lower region of the tank and also onto the strand of textile material extending downwards into the resting zone after passing through a pair of squeeze rollers. This method has the disadvantage that it requires a large quantity of rinsing fluid.
The applicants have developed a rinsing process (European Patent Specification No. A80 100 896) which also uses a resting zone which is free of rinsing fluid but in which the maximum quantity of rinsing fluid (fresh water) applied to the textile material is the quantity which the material can carry on entering the resting zone. Such a method is distinguished by a significant reduction in the quantity of rinsing fluid required and thus in particular reduces the expenditure on waste water purification.